Universal Preschool News

In this section, you'll find editorials, legislation, public policy and trends
on issues relating to preschool, pre-kindergarten, childcare and the push toward
universal preschool education. Particularly of note are articles concerning the
states claim of a compelling interest in compulsory preschool education. Visit
often for the latest preschool news.

Forget universal preschool. We need a 13th grade.In education circles, universal preschool is hot. But it's only half the answer. If we really want to raise a generation of employable kids, we need universal 13th and 14th grades too.As taxpayers, we've decided to subsidize the education of every American child between the ages of 5 and 18. But current education funding structures reflect a bygone industrial age, when a high school diploma met or in some cases exceeded the needs of the local and national economies. Now, neither preschool nor college is a luxury, and families shouldn't have to pay for the schooling that keeps society running.by Andre M. PerryJune 12, 2014[More Results from washingtonpost.com]

Former Livermore preschool employees testify about abusesThe owners of a Livermore preschool shut down last year covered babies' faces with blankets as they slept and occasionally used those blankets to tie them to the crib, two former employees told a judge Thursday during a preliminary hearing.Lida Sharaf, 33, and her sister, Nazila Sharaf, 36, owners of Sunnyside Preschool in Livermore, were arrested in April 2013 on suspicion of child abuse after a former employee filed complaints about the facility that included swaddling infants so tightly that they could not move their arms or legs.by Karina IoffeeMarch 21, 2014[More Results from contracostatimes.com]

Why Universal Pre-K Is a Step BackwardsObama's call for universal preschool access, one of the few concrete proposals in an otherwise bland State of the Union Address, was the culmination of an idea inspired by the success of programs like the Perry Preschool Program.There has been some research to suggest that children who attend preschool regularly go on to lead more successful lives than those who don't, even when socioeconomic factors are accounted for. In response to the President's State of the Union speech, the WSJ took a look at Oklahoma, one of the first states to roll out state-funded preschools, to see how their program is actually faring.March 10, 2013[More Results from blogs.the-american-interest.com]

Eugenics & 4 Year Olds - Invasion Of The Body SnatchersHow many ways can the statists take away your life and liberty? At this point it is becoming harder and harder to count them all.From healthcare to education, from housing to food, the Federal government, under the dictatorship of Barack Obama, is in the process of taking everything in your life out of your hands. I have read that the "Affordable Health Care Act" contains language to allow the state to demand your organs upon your death without your consent. Not at all sure that is so, but if Mayor Bloomberg can mandate what you can't buy to drink and can restrict the use of salt, is there any limit to what the government can and can't do with your body?February 21, 2013[More Results from freedomoutpost.com]

Everything you need to know about California's genetically modified food fightOf all the state-level initiatives on the ballot this Tuesday, few are generating as much vitriol - or advertising - as California's Proposition 37. If it passes, the law would require some genetically modified foods to be labeled as such.Those in favor, including watchdog groups and organic food companies, argue that Californians have a right to know what's in their food. Those opposed, including various food and biotechnology firms, say the law could lead to higher prices at the grocery store and hurt small businesses. More than $44 million has been spent on the "no" campaign, with giant agribusinesses such as Monsanto and Dupont donating heavily.by Brad PlumerNovember 4, 2012[More Results from washingtonpost.com]

Bob Kingsbury, New Hampshire Legislator, Explains Remarks Linking Kindergarten To Higher CrimeA Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire explained his controversial statement last week that kindergarten leads to higher crime was based on statistics: He found a 400 percent jump in crime in towns with this early childhood education program, he claimed.Last week Rep. Bob Kingsbury (R-Laconia) told fellow Belknap County lawmakers that research he has conducted since 1996 shows a connection between the state's kindergarten program and higher crime rates, attributing it to children being taken "away from their mothers too soon." Kingsbury discussed with The Huffington Post on Tuesday his research showing a dramatic jump in crime. "The sources I have is I went to the Department of Education and got a list of kindergartens and I went to the safety department and got the crime report," he said. "In general, the towns with a kindergarten have 400 percent more crime than other towns in the same county. In every county the towns and cities with kindergarten had more crime."by John CelockJuly 3, 2012[More Results from huffingtonpost.com]

Pre K Scholars Launches New WebsitePre K Scholars has adopted a strategy that focuses on homeschoolers, parents of 3-5 year olds and preschool and kindergarten teachers seeking primary and supplemental classroom materials.Pre K Scholars began in 2008 with its Teacher Kit, a comprehensive preschool curriculum with supporting instructional materials in a box that initially sold for $800.. Its target was a former teacher turned stay at home mom who would like to teach kindergarten readiness in her home. "We built the website to support that strategy. We offered signup sheets for classes and even allowed teachers to have their own webpages within our website," reflected Schwary.March 1, 2012[More Results from timesunion.com]

Editorial: Now not the time to cut preschool fundsDecades after 1,000 poor Chicago kids attended an intensive, high-quality early childhood education program in the early 1980s, their lives are far better than similar kids who did not, a new study shows.This research is particularly timely as Illinois politicians tussle over a final state budget. Early childhood education, which generally gets high marks for quality, is slated for a 5 percent cut. That will translate into a loss of roughly 4,300 seats.June 11, 2011[More Results from suntimes.com]

Investigating healthy minds: Preschool study seeks to teach kindnessWhen children in Kerri Lynch's preschool class get angry, they shake their "mind jars," homemade snow globes filled with water and glitter. Until the glitter settles, they don't talk, taking deep breaths instead.Instead of studying disease and disorder, researchers probe positive attributes such as compassion and contentment. The preschool study is attempting to determine whether children can be taught, in a statistically significant way, to be kinder. It is among the main research projects under way at the center, and it has hit a nerve with parents.by Doug EricksonMay 18, 2011[More Results from host.madison.com]

New L.A. study affirms benefits of preschoolChildren enrolled in Los Angeles Universal Preschool programs made significant improvements in the social and emotional skills needed to do well in kindergarten, according to a study released Monday.The study, commissioned by the organization and conducted by the San-Jose-based Applied Survey Research, measured the readiness skills of 437 children at 24 preschools in the fall of 2008 and reassessed 364 of those children in sping 2009.by Carla RiveraApril 19, 2010[More Results from Los Angeles Times]

Why nursery schools are bad for little boysIt is one of life's little ironies that, just as neuroscience has confirmed the huge importance of attachment in early learning, the people who once selflessly took on the role of faithful assistants to each generation are no longer available to do the joThere has so far been little research into the emotional effects of institutionalised early care, but what there is gives cause for concern. Government researchers have noticed a "small but significant difference in a large group of children" for whom daycare led to "withdrawn, compliant or sad" behaviour or to higher levels of aggression.by Sue PalmerMay 19, 2009[More Results from Times Online]

Questions for CandidatesAs November elections approach, homeschoolers should try to find out the positions of the candidates on the issues of most importance to parents.NHELD has compiled a short list of suggested questions. What is your position on compulsory public pre-school (universal pre-school) for infants and toddlers?October 9, 2008[More Results from Home Educator's Family Times]

When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?According to the apple-or-coin test, used in the Middle Ages, children should start school when they are mature enough for the delayed gratification and abstract reasoning involved in choosing money over fruit.In 15th- and 16th-century Germany, parents were told to send their children to school when the children started to act "rational." And in contemporary America, children are deemed eligible to enter kindergarten according to an arbitrary date on the calendar known as the birthday cutoff...by Elizabeth WeilJune 3, 2007[More Results from The New York Times]

Poor Behavior Is Linked to Time in Day CareA report from the largest study of American child care finds that keeping a preschooler in a day care for a year or more increased the likelihood that the child would become disruptive in class - the effect persisted through sixth-grade.Every year spent in day care centers for at least 10 hours per week was associated with a 1 percent higher score on a standardized assessment of problem behaviors completed by teachers, said Dr. Margaret Burchinal, a co-author of the study and a psychologist at the University of North Carolina.by Benedict CareyMarch 26, 2007[More Results from The New York Times]

Pre-K program lacks studentsOnly 56 4-year-olds are in the Brooksville summerprogram to get ready for kindergarten.Only 56 students have enrolled so far in the program at Brooksville, Pine Grove and Westside elementary schools, said elementary curriculum specialist Elaine Wooten. While nearly 1,000 other Hernando students took advantage of a similar school-year program offered by private child care providers, she said, the summer turnout has been a disappointment.by Tom MarshallJune 28, 2006[More Results from St. Petersburg Times (FL)]

The Price of Day Care Can Be HighThere is one place in North America where parents of young children don't have to worry about child care. In Quebec, full-time day care costs just $7 a day, thanks to a government program aimed at one of the thorniest problems that workers in their 20's,Starting in 1997, the Quebec Family Policy subsidized day care for 4-year-olds at government-approved centers around the province. By 2000, the program had expanded to cover any child not old enough for kindergarten, all the way down to infants. This is universal day care, an audacious idea that recognizes the revolution in women's work over the last 30 years.
by David LeonhardtJune 14, 2006[More Results from New York Times (Canada)]

Vilsack wants preschool for all 4-year-oldsDES MOINES -- Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that he will ask the Legislature to guarantee preschool for every child.The proposal, which would cost $15 million in its first year, would make preschool a recurring part of the state budget rather than an optional expense that must be renewed each year.
House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, said the governor's plan would guarantee preschool by expanding the K-12 school funding formula to include 4-year-olds.by Dan GearinoJanuary 13, 2006[More Results from Quad-City Times (IA)]

Preschool ads draw fire from criticsSACRAMENTO - Two television ads tell Californians that children who go to preschool are more likely to graduate from college. A radio spot describes a 4-year-old named Amy who is helping to improve the economy and fight crime simply by attending preschoolTo most Californians, the ads may seem little more than public service announcements encouraging parents to send their young children to preschool. But to opponents of actor-director Rob Reiner's pending $2.3 billion universal preschool initiative, the spots feel more like taxpayer-financed political advocacy that primes voters for the June election. They criticize the fact that Reiner chairs the state commission paying for the ads and also leads the initiative campaign that may benefit by its message.
by Kevin YamamuraDecember 23, 2005[More Results from Contra Costa Times (CA)]

Universal preschool trend has criticsTROUTDALE - All across the country, governors and legislators from both parties are pouring money into universal preschool programs.In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson is preparing to press for universal preschool in the 2006 legislative session, a move that could cost about $59 million a year, and Illinois has set aside $90 million over the next three years for early-childhood education. In all, spending on pre-K programs is just over $2.5 billion nationwide, according to Pre-K Now, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.
by Julia SilvermanDecember 19, 2005[More Results from The Seattle Times (WA)]

JCCEO Celebrates 40 Years Of Head StartThe Head Start program for preschool children is 40 years old this year, and the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity Head Start Program celebrated this milestone at all its centers.Begun in 1965 as a summer program, when the need to help low-income children prepare for kindergarten and first grade became apparent, the program has served thousands of children here in Jefferson County, and more than 22 million children across the nation.by Community NewsOctober 27, 2005[More Results from The Birmingham Times]

Human Services chief bids farewellUnder Borland's leadership, the county undertook welfare reform before it was launched on a national level.Now the agency is supporting an effort to make preschool available to every child in the county, another area where it is leading the state. At her request, the supervisors on Tuesday approved a $1.75 million grant over three years from her agency to the First 5 San Mateo County Preschool for All program.
by Laura ErndeJuly 17, 2005[More Results from San Mateo County Times]

Scary Preschool UtopiaDid you know, the earnest lady asked, that one-quarter of even the affluent children in this country start kindergarten without full knowledge of the alphabet?She clearly found this information a shocker, evidence that this nation needs universal pre-kindergarten, right away. This was, after all, Libby Doggett, the executive director of Pre-K Now, speaking at a seminar for reporters this spring in Denver.
by Karin KleinJune 7, 2005[More Results from Los Angeles Times (CA)]

Maybe Preschool Is the ProblemIF six out of every 1,000 preschool children are asked to pack up their Goldfish crackers and never return to nursery school - expelled at the tender age of 4 - whose fault is that?But maybe, some education experts say, the problems stem from preschool itself. A new study released last week by the Yale Child Study Center found that preschool children are three times as likely to be expelled as children in primary school, and that roughly 5,000 preschool children are turned out each year.
by Jennifer SteinhauerMay 22, 2005[More Results from The New York Times [Requires free subscription]]

Research Finds a High Rate of Expulsions in PreschoolSo what if typical 3-year-olds are just out of diapers, still take a daily nap and can't tie their shoes? They are old enough to be expelled, the first national study of expulsion rates in pre-k programs has found.In fact, preschool children are three times as likely to be expelled as children in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the new study, by researchers from the Yale Child Study Center. Although preschool expulsion rates varied widely by state and type of setting, the study found that on average, boys were expelled at 4.5 times the rate of girls, African-Americans at twice the rate of Latinos and Caucasians, and 4-year-olds at 1.5 times the rate of 3-year-olds.by Tamar LewinMay 17, 2005[More Results from The New York Times]

Classic toys never grow old with kidsAt a time when many 3-year-olds can operate a DVD player to watch their favorite movies, it's nice to know classic toys still have a place in their lives.
Fisher-Price Toys Inc. is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and although the company has kept in touch with the times with hot licensed products and electronic gizmos, it's the classics that have captured the imaginations of generations of kids. Company lore has it that in 1934, Herman Fisher's mother, who was a teacher, coined the term "preschool" toys and a new toy segment was born.
by Denise I. O'NealApril 22, 2005[More Results from Chicago Sun-Times (IL)]